McGee Creek residents get rude surprise from Bishop BLM

Several residents living at the little modular home settlement of McGee Creek (between Mammoth Lakes and Crowley Lake) got a rude awakening this month when the Bishop Bureau of Land Management informed them that they would have to remove all of their “backyard” activities that were illegally on BLM land.

According to the area’s county supervisor, Fred Stump, it was unclear why the residents were being asked at this time to remove evidence of their use of public lands, including in one case, a petting zoo.

Over time, he said, residents have encroached on the public land right outside their private property boundaries, parking vehicles and adding other uses to the land.

“They have been doing it for 15 years, and we don’t know why now,” Stump said Tuesday. But he also said the residents were clearly illegally trespassing on federal land, according to the maps presented by the BLM.

There will be a meeting between the BLM and the affected residents (Stump said there are about six properties affected) next week. There is also an appeals process, should the residents choose to use it.